Bad weekend at the box office – “New Year’s Eve” continues to be most disappointing holiday

Was everyone out shopping? The weekend box office was the second worst of the year so far, with the top 12 movies combined only grossing $69.7 million. A good old “Transformers,” “Harry Potter” or “Twilight” opening weekend alone would eclipse that total. (Speaking of “Twilight,” “Breaking Dawn– Part 1” finally relinquished its three-week hold of number one and dropped to third place with $7.9 million, putting it in third place behind – you guessed it – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” – as 2011’s top earners.)

Although it claimed the top spot for the weekend, Garry Marshall’s all-star romantic comedy “New Year’s Eve” only made $13.7 million. Coming in second with $10 was “The Sitter,” the latest raunchy, R-rated comedy to tank in the second half of this year and Jonah Hill’s lowest debuting starring role. “The Muppets” and “Arthur Christmas” rounded out the top five.

And the big story again was the successful limited opening of a much smaller, artsier movie. The Cold War spy reboot, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” made $301,000 in just four theaters, making its per-theater average of $75,184 the third-best of the year after “Midnight in Paris” and “The Tree of Life.” It’s also the third-highest ever for a movie opening in four theaters, behind “The Tree of Life” and “The King’s Speech.”

CJ Lais

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